Putting the Gun Down
by backwardsthinker
Summary: Elizabeth had spent half her life in Division always doing what she was told, always fallowing orders and always keeping her head down. She was one of their best. But when she uncovers a secret about one of the young recruits she begins to question her loyalties. And her new assignment could have her questioning much more.
1. Prologue: A New Beginning

**Putting The Gun Down**

**Prologue: A New Beginning**

My eyes slowly opened. I was lying on a rigid bed blinded by the room being overwhelmingly bright despite its dull, stone grey walls. The seemingly perfect white tiled floor helped reflect the lights from the ceiling as well as the round lights placed in the walls themselves. Aside from the bed the only thing that remained in the room was a simple grey desk and a small grey dresser. It felt like I had been taken to a hospital without the horrid smell and the large amounts of medical equipment.

My vision cleared. I wasn't the only one in the room. Standing in front of the door, across from the bed was a man who looked like he was in his late thirties but had aged conceivably well. His short blonde hair was only slightly slicked back, which matched his professional black suit and tie. His craggy face and piercing green eyes gave me an uneasy feeling that told me to run. But I didn't.

His face grew into a smirk. He was waiting for me to say something, but I couldn't. My thirteen year old self was too terrified by the man who stood before me. He sauntered towards the bed as I sat up. I didn't feel like I was in a hospital anymore.

"Hello Elizabeth." My body began to tremble at the sound of his voice. It was deep and extremely monotone, and it fit perfectly with his appearance. "Don't worry," he said, the small smirk still placed on his lips. "You aren't in prison anymore. Your death was confirmed less than six hours ago. It was a suicide. After you murdered your foster mother, you couldn't cope with the guilt."

"I didn't kill her," I responded quietly looking down at my lap while tears formed in my eyes. That was the only time in the two years I knew him, I had ever spoken to the man.

He ignored my statement. "My name is Wade. I work for the government. We have decided to give you a second chance." Wade spoke like a drill sergeant. He wasn't offering, he was telling. "You are one of the most talented gymnasts of your age. I don't know if you've heard but apparently they think you could have won the gold medal at the Olympics. Once you were of age of course." I didn't understand. "You have been training your entire life, which will make it much easier to train you for your future. The only downside about you was how extensive your paper trail was, but that just means you'll be confined to the inside for awhile, so people can," he paused for a moment letting me sink in what he was saying, "Forget about you." Wade got close to my face and whispered with pride, "You are the youngest recruit we've ever had. And you will be the best." He backed away but stopped before he exited. "Welcome to Division."


	2. Chapter 1: Home Sweet Home

**Putting the Gun Down**

**Chapter 1: Home Sweet Home**

Elizabeth woke up to the sound of her phone blaring next to her ear. Groaning, she grabbed the one closest to her thinking it was one of her "friends", but the sound hadn't been coming from it. The sudden realization that it was her other phone made her head snap up immediately. She should have known it was them considering it was four in the morning and her "friends" knew it wasn't smart to call her past one.

She ruffled through her bed side table till she finally grasped the phone. "What?" she groaned still half a sleep.

"Percy has a job for you," the voice responded. "Be at the airport in an hour."

"But I-," the line had cut her off. Frustrated, she threw the phone back in the drawer, grabbed her other phone, and called for a cab. She had only been in New York for two weeks and she was already being called back in.

* * *

The trip had been a long one, but not so long that Elizabeth would have been able to catch up on sleep. After exiting the plain without any bags in hand, she searched the airport until she found what she was looking for. Michael, her boss's right hand man, stood with a sign that said "Ms. Slater" on the front. She smiled as she walked toward him. "Hello Ms. Slater, your ride is waiting for you right outside," he smiled back.

"It's nice to see you Michael," she said before giving him a hug.

"It's good to see you too Crow," he replied releasing his recruit.

He escorted her to the car and she jumped into the passenger seat. As he closed the door to the driver's side she couldn't help but get anxious about why she had been called. "So what's the deal Mikey?"

"I don't know," he sighed pressing his foot on the gas. "Percy said he needed you activated as soon as possible."

"Yeah, but what for?

"It's not a kill mission," he promised. "But that's all I know. In fact, I wasn't even the one who was supposed to call you this morning; Birkhoff was."

Elizabeth's stomach clenched at the sound of his name.

When they stopped at a red light Michael pulled a small box out of his pocket. "I almost forgot," he said handing it to her. "Happy Twenty-Third."

How could she have forgotten? Maybe it was just because she chose not to remember. "I think you mean happy tenth anniversary," Elizabeth rolled her eyes looking back on the day she had been recruited and that disgusting smirk Wade had on his face.

That was the day Elizabeth had died and Crow had been born.

She opened the box and inside laid a silver necklace with a small silver pendant shaped like a crow. "It's beautiful Michael." She kissed the man she had known for almost ten years on the cheek. She clasped the necklace around her neck as the light turned green.

Before she new it they pulled into Division's underground parking lot. "Home sweet home," she mumbled.

Michael led Elizabeth to Percy's office where he had already been waiting for her behind his desk. Her boss stood with his usual smug grin plastered on his face. "Thank you for bringing her in Michael. You can go." Michael nodded and left the room leaving Elizabeth alone with Darth Vader himself. "I'm glad you got here as soon as you did."

"Was it really necessary to call me in at four in the morning Percy?" she asked crossing her arms over her chest and yawning slightly as she did so.

"I apologize for that," he said insincerely. "But yes, it was necessary. I need you to monitor someone for me."

"Who?"

"Do you remember Ryan Fletcher?"

"You want me to monitor a CIA analyst?" she was slightly confused. She remembered Fletcher from the mission in Chile, and in her opinion the man didn't hold much of a threat.

"After the shenanigans he and Nikita played in Chile, I thought it would be best if we just ignored him and let the whole world think he was crazy but after the stunt they pulled last week-"

"What stunt?" she cut him off. "Who's they?"

Percy moved from behind his desk towards Elizabeth. " Nikita and Mr. Fletcher abducted Birkhoff and tried to hack into his laptop for Intel."

"You're kidding!" she said rather shocked.

"I'm afraid I'm not," Percy sighed. "We managed to demote Fletcher down to the basement of the CIA. The only analyzing he'll be doing is on the Cold War. But just to be certain, we want you to monitor him, get to know him, become friends. I just want to know what information he is gathering."

"So, what you mean is, you want me to seduce him," she deduced. Elizabeth had known Percy for a long time and that suggestive glimmer in his eye told her everything.

His grin grew larger. "If you must." Percy moved back behind his desk once more, relaxing in his chair. "Amanda will prep you for the operation." She nodded. "Now go. Be brilliant." Percy said that to Elizabeth on many occasions; specifically on those of importance.

Elizabeth nodded once more before leaving his room, admittedly quite surprised about her new assignment. She wasn't exactly known for her under cover work. Elizabeth was much more comfortable in her skills of combat and infiltration. Despite her small stature she was faster and stronger then most agents. Her ability to sneak into any building and any room she wanted to put her very far ahead of them as well. Not to mention she had about four more years of training than the average Division agent.

Elizabeth was feared by most of Division. She walked with purpose where ever she went, making it look like she owned the place. She was aware of all of the rumors being spread constantly about her behavior; that she was just another Wade waiting to happen. Her small stature, her short, chestnut colored hair, her diamond-shaped face, and her usual black division sanctioned clothing, and the scar on her left eye brought fear to the young recruits, but also respect. They knew how good she could be. Her first job at Division, was making sure the other recruits were ready for their first kill order. If they could last two minutes on the mat with her, they were ready. Any less than that and they would ask someone else to take care of the job.

As she turned a corner her body collided with another. "Lizzie?" The voice was all too familiar. Before she could even see his face he pulled her into a tight hug. "I didn't know you were going to be back so soon." He let go of her after realizing that she wasn't hugging him back.

Birkhoff let her step back, both standing awkwardly refusing to make eye contact with one another. She hadn't changed in the weeks she had been gone. He still towered over her which said something because he wasn't as tall as most Division agents. She still had the dark circles around her eyes that he had hated so much. He was hoping the time away would have gotten rid of them. But she also still had the small scar lined on top of and underneath her left eye that he had grown to admire.

"So… how was New York?" he asked trying to make the situation less awkward, but in reality it only intensified it.

"Better than around here I guess," she replied looking down at her feet.

He knew exactly what she meant. Her extended cover had been an option. Being one of Amanda's and Percy's favorites came with its perks and being given an option between assignments was a very rare occasion. She would have stayed if he hadn't have been such a coward. "What's your assignment?" He was hoping that it was one he would be running interference on.

"It's not really an assignment," she said crossing her arms. "It's a chore." His eyebrows squinted in confusion. "I have to monitor Ryan Fletcher for a couple of weeks. Speaking of which, I heard you ran into him a few days ago."

"Yeah," he sighed. "But I took care of it."

She grinned. "You mean _Michael _took care of it."

"He may have showed up…But _I_ was the one who hacked the Blu Ray player."

"Right and I'm-"

"Crow," another agent had cut her off. "Amanda is waiting for you."

"Right," she sighed. "See ya Seymour." And with that she turned away from him heading towards Amanda's office.

Birkhoff wasn't used to Elizabeth calling him by his first name, hell he wasn't even used to her calling him Nerd or Birkhoff either. To Lizzie, it was always Sey, never Seymour, and she only called him Birkhoff when she was angry or frustrated, and the only time she ever called him Nerd was when she was in a position of being compromised and he was the one running interference behind his computer. Although he knew she would never admit it, she wasn't angry with him, she was just disappointed and hurt. And he hated making her feel that way.

Before she disappeared down the hall all together he shouted, "Happy Birthday!" just so she knew he didn't forget.


	3. Chapter 2: I Left

**Putting The Gun Down**

**Chapter 2: I Left**

_I had been walking down the corridor when I heard a young agents voice shouting out, "Alex!" His threatening tone peaked my interest. I slowly worked my way down the hall. "Don't move." When I reached the corner I stood against the wall peering my head out just so I could barely see them._

_"Thom," Alex spoke with a heavy breath. His gun was pointed straight for her. "I can explain."_

_"It's okay, I worked it out. I just don't believe it-". His voice was as shaky as hers was. What had he "worked" out exactly?_

_"I was just down here to-". She tried to explain herself but he wouldn't let her._

_"Don't."_

_Thom stepped closer to Alex. "I wanted to tell you," she said. I had always known she was hiding something, and now Thom was catching her in the act. "Some day. I was hoping to-" _

_The young recruit was about to break into tears when Thom cut her off again. "Shut Up." He was almost in tears too, but he ignored the pain he was feeling and continued to walk toward her. "Turn around," he demanded. When she didn't listen he said it louder. "I said turn around!" And she did. _

_I was about to intervene when the sound of an explosion went off. It shook the floor and I stumbled, my back hitting hard against the wall. Losing my focus I forgot what had just happened until I heard the sound of the young agent and recruit fighting. _

_"Lizzie," I heard the sound of Birkhoff's voice ringing in my ear piece. "Nikita's escaped. She's on my floor. Can you get there?" His voice was frantic._

_"Yeah," I grunted in frustration. Tom and Alex would have to wait. "Where is she exactly?"_

_"Recruit training area," he said speaking quickly. "And you may want to step on it."_

* * *

"Hello Elizabeth," Amanda greeted with her usual Cheshire grin plastered on her face. That smirk gave Elizabeth chills down her spine whenever she stepped into Amanda's office. "Please, have a seat." Elizabeth obeyed sitting herself down in Amanda's lily-white couch. Her office had always been ironically beautiful. Unlike the rest of Division that particular room wasn't blaring white. The walls were made of smooth stone and the ambient lighting glowed with a soft yellow tint, making the room feel much more comfortable than any other. Unfortunately that comfort was soon lost when one caught sight of Amanda the Ice Queen.

"I assume your time in New York was pleasant." She placed herself in her usual chair across from Elizabeth.

"Yes thank you," Elizabeth replied. Elizabeth may have been one of Amanda's favorites, but Amanda was certainly not one of hers. She had been terrified of Amanda the moment she met her, but she never wanted Amanda to know that. She simply forced a polite smile whenever they came in contact with one another.

"I am sorry we had to have you removed so early. I was hoping you would at least get a month off, but you have to understand that Nikita and anyone involved with her has become one of our top priorities."

"Yes, of course," Elizabeth replied simply. While she looked calm and collected to Amanda, Elizabeth's head was swimming. The words "anyone involved with her" frightened her to the very core of her being. She was worried. Not for herself, but for Alex.

"Behind me is your knew wardrobe," Amanda said pointing to a clothing rack full of business type attire. "You will be going under cover as a young journalist right out of college and hoping to get her big break."

"You honestly think Fletcher's going to give me Intel through an interview? I find that rather hard to believe."

"We just needed a way for the two of you to be introduced," Amanda replied. "We aren't expecting you to get the information out of him right away. We know an interrogation won't get him to reveal anything, but perhaps you might be able to pull it out of him."

"Why me?" Elizabeth asked. It was a question she asked often when in the presence of someone from Division. "It's just, this isn't the kind of mission you usually send me on."

"After doing some research it seems Mr. Fletcher has a type." Amanda said. "He is very picky about the women he sees. He's tired of all the female attention he's been getting from his trip to Chile. He wants someone honest, intelligent, confident, and most importantly someone just like himself."

"And you think I'm just like Ryan Fletcher?"

"On the contrary," Amanda smiled slightly. "I think you're the exact opposite. You use logic; he prefers abstract thinking. In my personal opinion, the people we fall for tend to be the people we least expect."

"You really think that?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"I do," she replied with a smirk.

_Unfortunately, _I thought to myself. _So do I._

"But another reason I suggested you for this mission, was because I noticed that you have become slightly infatuated with Seymour Birkhoff."

"I-" Elizabeth wanted to explain herself but Amanda didn't want to listen to the lies she knew were going to come out of her mouth.

"It's perfectly natural for one to have physical or emotional attractions to one another," she said crossing one leg over the other. "However, it would be in your best interest, as well as his, if you both chose to move on." The word "both" was not correct. Elizabeth's feelings had been completely one sided, at least according to Seymour Birkhoff. "It's one of the reasons I'm glad you chose the option to go to New York."

Elizabeth didn't like where the conversation was going so she decided to change it. "Well, when do I start?"

"Tomorrow," she replied. "We've rented you an apartment in the same building as Mr. Fletcher's. You have an appointment to see him tomorrow at noon. It is important he doesn't run into you before then. Your flight leaves at eight o'clock tonight. We will send over your knew wardrobe. I will send Birkhoff your Intel package along with a new ID before the day is over, so you can retrieve it from him."

"Right," Elizabeth sighed as she stood up. "What should I do for the next few hours?"

"It would be best if you remained here," Amanda replied. "Why don't you see what Michael is up to?" Elizabeth hated when Amanda gave her that maternal tone. Elizabeth was no longer thirteen years old and she was never Amanda's pretend daughter.

"Alright," she sighed one more time and was about to head out the door but Amanda stopped her.

"Why don't you pick out an outfit for tomorrow before you leave," she suggested. Amanda always thought she could buy the love of the recruits by letting them make a decision. She thought it gave them a taste of the freedom they wished they had. She was wrong. A decision must be made between several options. It is a choice that gives us freedom, and unfortunately Division doesn't allow those.

Elizabeth sauntered over to the rack, gliding her fingers over the vanity to her right. She glanced at herself in the mirror. Her less then shoulder length, dyed chestnut colored hair shined in the reflection and her clear skin seemed paler from the bright lights that gleamed inside the room. But Elizabeth never focused on that when she looked at her reflection. All she could see were the sad, dark circles underneath her eyes, and over top her left eye, the scar that had been carved there.

Without noticing her hands skimmed over a pair of glasses and knocked them off the table. She bent over to pick them up and noticed the false lenses. "Can I wear these?"she asked turning to Amanda.

"Well, they were for someone else, but I'm sure we can get them another pair."

Elizabeth smiled and placed the black, thick rims on her face. She continued over to the rack going through each outfit. She settled on a black and white plaid pencil skirt that ended just past her thighs with a thin red belt and an elegant white blouse. She also picked out a pair of simple black high heels and a pearl necklace. Amanda smiled at the younger girl's decision. "And one more thing," she said with a grin. Amanda went to the back of the room where she had hidden a small cake with one candle poking out of the top. She lit it and handed the cake to Elizabeth. "Happy Birthday."

Elizabeth wanted so badly to roll her eyes at the gift she and every other recruit or agent received on their birthday. But she didn't. Elizabeth once more, put on a fake smile and blew out the tiny candle, only pretending to make a wish, because after ten years and ten candles she knew damn well that wishes never came true no matter how much one wanted them to.

* * *

_I ran as fast as I could through the corridors playing the scene between Thom and Alex over and over again in my head. There was no possible way that their confrontation wasn't connected with Nikita's escape._

_When I reached the training area all of the recruits had been knocked out and she had pointed a guard and his gun toward the Opps window shooting directly at it. When she looked up to see me she elbowed the guard in the face knocking him out. "Hey Nikki," I said slightly out of breath. "Good to see ya."_

_"You too Crow," she said with a small smile placed on her lips. "Wish it was under different circumstances."_

_I took the first swing. She caught my arm, but I kicked her in the side. _

_Nikita and I had always been evenly matched. She was the only person that had ever lasted ten minutes with me on the mat, and even then we never did settle on a winner._

_"So how's Birkhoff?" she asked grabbing my other arm and flipping me over._

_"Why is it your always so talkative during combat?" I asked tripping her slightly and using her arm that she had pulled me down with to pull me back up. "Birkhoff's just being the same moron he always is." She went to punch me in the stomach but I blocked it._

_"I take it you and him are still-" It was my turn to flip her._

_"No," I replied putting my foot on her chest. "We're not."_

_The next thing I knew the lights flickered out. I felt two hands wrap around my ankle and pull me to the ground. Nikita had vanished. When they came back up a sudden realization came to me. Tom had been accusing Alex. But of what?_

_Of being the mole._

_"Find her!" Percy yelled into Birkhoff's earpiece that was synced to mine. I knew exactly where she was going._

_Without saying anything to anyone I ran back through the corridor I came from. The sound of a gun shot rose through the air. I stopped a minute in shock, but then I picked up my speed. Nikita's shadow was about thirty or forty paces ahead of me._

_"Alex!" she shouted but it wasn't in a threatening way. In fact it was almost nurturing. "Alex!" Nikita's voice became frantic. "We have to go."_

_I stopped at the corner like I had done before, listening in on the conversation. "I shot him," Alex said. The girl was in shock. And frankly so was I. It wasn't just because Alex had done it, or even because if I had chosen to stop them before and not go after Nikita, Thom wouldn't have been on the floor dying. It was because I hadn't moved. Nikita and her mole were right there. I could have done something. I could have taken my gun out and shot them both right there. But I didn't._

_"I'm sorry," Nikita said. "There's nothing you can do. The guard will be here any minute."_

_"I'm not leaving him," Alex demanded "Go I can handle this."_

_"Their looking for the mole," Nikita warned her._

_"I know. I can handle this." Persistence was always the thing I admired most about Alex._

_"We'll make them pay," Nikita promised. "The shell's gone. Call me when you're on the outside. I heard Nikita's foot steps running swiftly away. I had my chance and she was gone._

_All I heard after that was Alex apologizing to Thom. His lasts words were, "You're gonna save me."_

* * *

After leaving Amanda's office Elizabeth headed straight for opps. Unfortunately she was stopped once again by Birkhoff. "Hey," he said grabbing hold of her wrist gently and pulling her out of the hall and into a doorway.

"Look, I really don't wanna do this right now," she tried to walk away but he pulled her back.

"Well, when do you want to do this then?" he said annoyed. "I tried calling you a hundred times while you were in New York and you never picked up. And now you're going off to Langley and you'll probably avoid me there too."

She rolled her eyes getting irritated herself. "You really don't get why I left do you?"

"I'm not a mind reader Lizzie," he said folding his arms over his chest and leaning on the wall behind him. "I get that you wanted to move on, if that's what you mean."

"That is the_ tiniest_ sliver of a reason as to why I left," she said. For the first time since she had gotten back she finally managed to look him in the eye. "I left because you didn't stop me."

"What?" He uncrossed his arms with his eyes lighting up in confusion.

"If you would have asked me to stay I would have." She put her fingers through her hair looking down at the floor. "I told you if I left, I was done. I'm tired of putting myself out there and you not giving me anything back."

"Lizzie, I know you're still upset with me, but can you please-"

"I'm not upset with you," she corrected him. "I'm upset with myself._ I_ was the one who let things go too far."

"Lizzie, you can't expect-"

"I have to go find Michael," she cut him off. She needed to get out of there and what she said wasn't a total lie. While she didn't have to, Amanda did suggest it. "I'll pick up my Intel package from you later."


	4. Chapter 3: Operation Ryan Fletcher

**Putting The Gun Down**

**Chapter 3: Operation Ryan Fletcher**

11:00 am

Despite his hatred for his demotion, Ryan Fletcher worked diligently organizing and reviewing Cold War files. After all he was an analyst, and he never stopped connecting the dots. It didn't matter if they belonged to Division or to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

As he was flipping through some old papers, he hadn't noticed the young woman walk through the doors. "Uhhh," Elizabeth stuttered walking to the first desk at the front of the room. Sitting there was an older gentleman that looked very much like he wished he hadn't been bothered. "Excuse me," she said pushing her false glasses further up the bridge of her nose. "I-I'm looking for Ryan Fletcher." Ryan's head snapped up the minute he heard his name.

The older man pointed a finger at Ryan, whose desk was in the center of the third row of small office cubicles. Elizabeth had only ever seen him once before and it had only been from far away. She had also seen pictures, but there was always a difference for her between an image and the real thing. He was clean shaven with his dark brown hair parted to the side. His cold blue eyes matched his contemplative expression. _He really is a thinker,_ she thought, and from what she could tell he never stopped. The way she saw him ruffling through his papers just seconds before and the way he stared at her in that moment helped her see that this was a man who never stopped asking questions.

She smiled at him as she walked towards his desk. In doing so she pretended not to notice where she was going and walked right into someone else's desk. The character she and Amanda had created was an awkward, shy, but also charming young journalist that was maybe just a little bit clumsy. She had knocked a large amount of papers off the desk. The young woman who sat behind it took a deep sigh of frustration. "I'm so sorry," Elizabeth apologized greatly while picking up the papers and giving them back to the woman. "Sorry," she apologized again before turning around.

"Excuse me," Elizabeth said, finally reaching Ryan. "Mr. Fletcher?" He nodded. "I'm Elizabeth Slater. I'm here to interview you for-"

"I'm sorry I'm not taking interviews at this time," he replied before she could finish. He stood up, grabbed a few files, and headed toward the copier at the other side of the room. She fallowed him.

"But, I've had this appointment with you for over a month," she explained. "Please if I don't come back with something my editor is going to have a cow."

He thought for a moment before he agreed. "Alright," he sighed with a little uncertainty. "But I'm in the middle of something right now. I can break for lunch in an hour." He grabbed a post it note from the top of the copier and scribbled down a few words. "Here's an address to a coffee shop near by. We can meet there."

"Thank you," Elizabeth shook his hand appreciatively. "You have no idea how much my boss is going to appreciate this."

* * *

12:20 pm

She sat tapping her fingers impatiently against her cardboard coffee cup. Elizabeth wasn't sure why she had been so nervous. Sure, she wasn't exactly used to Under Cover missions, but it wasn't like she had never done one before. Fletcher was twenty minutes later than she had expected him to be. As he walked into the coffee shop, she couldn't help but notice he was constantly looking over his shoulder. She made a note in her mind to remember that he knew he was being watched.

"Sorry," Ryan sighed taking a seat across from her at the table. "I would have been here earlier, but I got held up with something."

"It's okay," she said pulling out her notepad, pen, and recorder. "Do you want to order something before we get started?"

"I'm fine actually," he said rather uncomfortably. "Can we just get this over with?" Clearly, Ryan was annoyed about something, but what, Elizabeth wasn't sure.

"Yeah, sure," she replied flipping through her notepad. "So tell me, when you were in Chile, what did you-" she cut herself off pretending to get nervous and to have lost all of her questions. "I mean how did you-? Can you elaborate on-? What exactly did you find-? Was there any-?"

"Woah," he said raising up his hands a little in defense. "Slow down. Take your time."

Elizabeth took in a deep and overly dramatic breath. "Right." She opened her mouth to ask another question, but changed her mind and burst out, "I have a confession to make." She smiled guiltily at the man. "I don't really have any interest in your trip to Chile."

"What?"

"No offense, but conspiracy theories aren't really my thing," she replied. Ryan stared at her completely puzzled. "In fact I'm not much of a political writer either. Science Journalism has always been my first love."

"Then why-?"

"I've been trying to get editors all over town to read my article's, but it seems none of them really care about the Australopithecus sediba I wrote-"

"I'm sorry the What?" he asked not comprehending at all with what Elizabeth had just said.

"It was a 1.9 million year old skeleton that was discovered in South Africa," she explained quickly so she could get back to the subject at hand. "Anyway, most of the editors wouldn't even glance at the articles that I sent in. They all said the same thing. 'You want a job? Look into something we might actually be interested in.' So when I heard about you on the news I immediately knew that _you_ were where a story was."

Ryan could see the anticipation written all over her face and hated to have to disappoint her, but he had no choice. "Look," he sighed. "I'm sorry, but if you were hoping to get some sort of inside scoop, I'm afraid I can't give it to you. All my answers are going to be just as vague as they are in every other interview."

Ryan watched Elizabeth's face fall. "So then why did you agree to meet me here?" she asked acting as though she had been saddened by the news.

"I don't know," Ryan said honestly. "You seemed like you really needed it." _Ahhh, _Elizabeth thought. _He's a sympathizer. _ "And I'm still here if you want to ask me some questions. I'll do my best to answer them with as much detail as I can."

"No," she shook her head. "You don't have to. It's just a waist of your time."

"Come on, there has to be something you want to ask me?" he said. Ryan gently pulled the notepad away from Elizabeth. As he looked through it he couldn't help but notice the notepad was blank. "You know this is empty right?'

"Yeah," she groaned a little in embarrassment. "I grabbed the wrong one this morning.

Ryan chuckled a little, "It's okay." Elizabeth couldn't help but notice when his eyebrows started to squint and his eyes began staring up at the ceiling. He was thinking again. "Tell you what. Why don't _I_ ask you a few questions about yourself? Maybe that will help you remember what you wanted to ask me."

"I don't really see how that's going to work," she replied. "But okay."

"What's your name?"

"I told you earlier it's-"

"What's your name?" Ryan insisted.

"Elizabeth Slater," she said warmly. "What's your name?"

"Ryan Fletcher. How old are you?"

_What is this an interrogation? _She thought._ I'm the one who's supposed to be getting answers from him. _"I just turned 23. Where are you from?"

"Pennsylvania," he replied. He raised his chin a little and smirked. "Tell me Elizabeth, what was your favorite movie as a kid?"

"I wasn't aloud to watch movies or TV when I was younger."

"Really?" he said with a layer shock in his voice. "Why was that?"

Elizabeth smirked back at him. "Nope, it's my turn." She took a sip of her coffee before continuing. "Do you have any siblings?"

Clearly Elizabeth had touched a nerve because Ryan's playful grin had moved slowly to a sorrowful frown. "I had an older brother. He died an Afghanistan."

"I'm sorry," she replied feeling the tone in the room shift. "I shouldn't have asked. That was too personal.

"It's okay," he said softly. "We all have baggage that we carry with us right?"

_Buddy-Boy you have no idea_. "Is that my question, or do you want to ask another one?" Ryan didn't respond. "I was adopted. My biological parents were from Germany. They got into some trouble with a gang and when they found out my mother was pregnant, they fled to the States. About two months after I was born they were deported. They wanted to keep me safe and since I was born in the U.S…" Elizabeth trailed off.

"They put you up for adoption," Ryan finished.

"Yeah," she sighed. "From what I've been told they were probably killed the minute they landed in Germany."

There was a long period of silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable or awkward. The two just sat there with a quiet understanding of what the other had been though. Elizabeth knew what it was like to lose a family member, hell she lost both of her adoptive parents, even if one of them wasn't dead. Ryan knew what it was like be an outsider even in one's own family. Not even his parents supported his "Ghost Unit" theory.

Elizabeth was startled when the sound of her phone went off. She wasn't expecting anyone to call. Elizabeth picked it up checking to see what text message she had received. Like most Division numbers, it was private. The message read:

_This is your bailout if you need it. –Sey_

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at Birkhoff's text. In truth she would have loved to sit and talk to Ryan for the rest of the day, but she knew he had work to do and she also needed to find a way to attach a tracker to him. Just as she was about to say something to Ryan her phone rang again.

_P.S. You're welcome._

Elizabeth just texted him back with:

_Yeah, whatever_

Ryan saw the frown on her face and asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," she said putting her phone back in her purse. "But, I have to go. I feel awful that I brought you all the way down here to speak with me and we didn't even talk about Chile."

"It's alright," he said kindly. "Why don't I give you my number," he said taking her notepad again along with her pen. "If you come up with any questions, feel free to call."

"Thank you," she replied as he scribbled down his ten digits. "Why don't I buy you a coffee to make up for it?"

"That's really not necessary," he said handing her back her things.

"It's the least I could do." And before he could protest she went straight up to the barista and ordered Ryan a medium cup of coffee. After the drink had been made, Elizabeth picked it up and managed to slip a tiny Microdot into his cup.

"Thanks."Elizabeth purposefully made sure her fingers touched his as she passed him the hot piece of cardboard. "Seriously," Ryan looked in her eyes. "Call me."

She nodded feeling her cheeks heat up slightly. "Bye," she waved awkwardly, grabbed her purse and jacket, and left the coffee shop.

* * *

5:30 pm

Elizabeth stood behind the apartment building with her phone in hand waiting for Ryan to show up. Checking his tracker, she noticed he was right around the corner. Elizabeth had purposefully made sure they would run into each other going into the building.

When Ryan came into her sight of view she started walking towards the entrance. "Elizabeth?" he said.

She smirked before turning around and acted as though she was just as surprised as he was. "Ryan?"

"You don't live here do you?" he asked sounding almost a little suspicious of her.

"I moved in last week," she replied. "What a small world right?"

"Yeah, I guess. What floor are you on?"

"Four," she said. She noticed the two large brief cases he was carrying. "Do you need any help with those? They look pretty heavy."

"No thanks." Elizabeth could tell he was feeling awkward about the situation.

"Well, since you're here, I don't suppose you could help _me _with something?" she said pushing her purse strap further up her shoulder. "I bought a new nightstand and it's already in my apartment, but I need to move it. I'm not strong enough to handle it on my own. Do you think you could give me a hand?"

"Uhhh," he hesitated. "Sure, why not." Everything was going according to plan.

Elizabeth led Ryan up to her apartment. Sitting in the living room area was a brand new cherry wood nightstand. Elizabeth also took notice of a small blue box wrapped in white ribbon with a note attached to it on the coffee table. _I'll worry about that later,_ she thought.

It didn't take Ryan more than five minutes to carry the nightstand from the living room to her bedroom. "Thanks, I really appreciate it," she said after he placed the nightstand next to her bed.

"It was no trouble," he shrugged.

"I don't suppose you'd like to hang out for a bit?" she suggested. "Being new to this area I don't really know a lot of people." Being the nice guy Ryan was, he agreed, but not without a slight bit of uncertainty first. "Great! Why don't you go out there and order a pizza. I'm just gonna change into some sweats."

Ryan left her bedroom and she shut the sliding doors behind him. Going through her Division approved wardrobe, Elizabeth found the pair of grey sweatpants and the large T-Shirt that read, "Books turn Muggles into Wizards". She undid her belt, slipped off her skirt, and took off her shirt replacing them on her body with the new clothes she had picked out. She walked over to the mirror sitting on top of her dresser and tied her short hair into pigtails.

Elizabeth slid the doors to her bedroom open and then closed them behind her. "Ryan, did you order the-"she stopped.

Ryan was standing in the middle of her living room pointing a gun directly at Elizabeth's chest.

"Don't move."


	5. Chapter 4: The Arrangement

**Putting The Gun Down**

**Chapter 4: The Arrangement**

"Ryan," she said. Her voice stayed calm, hoping that he would relax. That was one thing Elizabeth had always been good at. Talking people out of things. It was a blessing and a curse. "Put it down." She tried to step forward to take the gun out of his hand.

"I said don't move," Ryan's voice was shaking, and so was the gun. Elizabeth felt a slight twinge of déjà vu. This moment seemed an awful lot like the one she had witnessed between Alex and Tom.

Elizabeth knew Ryan wouldn't shoot her. Hell, he'd probably never even held a gun before, let alone shot one. She stepped closer to him. "You're Division," he said, his eyes locking onto hers.

"Ryan, put the gun down."

"Give me one good reason why I should?" He raised the weapon, now aiming it at her head.

"Because if you don't," she said taking one more step toward him. She grabbed his arm with both hands and then flipped the gun out of his grasp. "I'll do that." The tables had been turned and now she was pointing the gun at _his_ chest. "Now, why don't we take a little walk to your apartment?" Elizabeth held Ryan's left arm with her right hand while keeping the hand with the gun it against his back. Elizabeth shoved him out of her apartment fallowing behind. Heading toward the elevator she asked, "What floor?"

"I'm right down the hall," he replied. He led her to an apartment only two doors down from hers. He unlocked the door with his key and she forced him into the room.

"Okay," she sighed rather nonchalantly. "I'm gonna put this down." She carefully placed the weapon on the side table next to his door. Ryan wondered what this woman was playing at."And now you're gonna tell me why you stole _my _gun and decided it would be good idea to point it at my head. Aside from the obvious."

"You were sent here to kill me," he said rather sure of himself.

Elizabeth chuckled. "Please, if Division wanted you dead, do you honestly think they would have gone through all of this trouble? Frankly Fletcher I thought you were smarter than that." He continued to glare at her with more and more hatred filling into his eyes. It was a look that she had gotten used to. "Speaking of intelligence, when did you realize I was Division?" She took a seat on Ryan's couch propping her feet up on the coffee table.

"Sey." He replied. She raised her eyebrow in both confusion and frustration. "When you sent me to call for the pizza I grabbed your home phone and sat on the couch. I noticed that little box sitting on your coffee table. The note was left wide open and it was signed-"

"Sey," she gritted through her teeth.

"Yeah," Ryan said. "After several of the other things that happened today, like you getting an interview with me when no one has asked me for one in over a month and a half, or the fact that you just happened to live in the same building as me, I could only assume that Sey was Seymour Birkhoff. And then there was that whole 'keeping a gun under your couch' thing."

_I was right before_, Elizabeth thought. _He never stops thinking._ "See, I'm not gonna kill _you_ Ryan. I'm gonna kill _him _for compromising my Opp."

"If you've been compromised then why am I still here?" He asked, his eyes glaring down at the gun. "I know too much. Why haven't you killed me?"

_Yeah, why haven't I?_ Division protocol did state that if she had been compromised, that she should have killed him right then and there. But she didn't. Just like she didn't tell Percy or Amanda that Alex was Nikita's mole.

"And why'd you force me into_ my_ apartment? What exactly were you trying to accomplish?" he asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"Now I see why Division hates you so much," Elizabeth said taking her feet of the coffee table and sitting up straight. "It's because you're too damn nosy." He stared fiercely down at her. She rolled her eyes before saying, "Division is everywhere, _including_ my apartment. They don't exactly trust their agents. And I can't let them know I was compromised because other wise we would both be in big trouble. The second they find out I was caught and I didn't kill you, I'll be cancelled."

"How do you know they haven't bugged my place?"

"Come on Ryan, you're an analyst," she rested her elbows on top of her legs. "If I'm not here to kill you then what am I here for?"

Ryan took a second before coming to a conclusion. "You've been sent here to spy on me."

She gave him a sarcastic slow clap before saying, "We prefer the term monitor. And you don't have bugs because I haven't put any in here yet."

"But you work for them," he said pacing back and forth in front of her. "I still don't understand why you're telling me all of this."

Truth be told, Elizabeth didn't either. Granted, she had always preferred being honest with someone, rather than beating them around the bush. Maybe she didn't know why, but she did know what she wanted. "Tell you what Fletcher, I'll make a deal with you." She got up from the couch and stood in front of him. "You get me a meeting with Nikita, and I'll keep a bullet from going through that pretty little head of yours."

The flustered and confused look on Ryan's face showed just how unsure he was. "How do I know this isn't a trap?"

"We'll meet somewhere of her choosing,somewhere with a signal jammer so I can't be tracked," she suggested. "You take my phone and drive me there so I can't tell Division where we are. Tell Nikita to come unarmed and I'll do the same. You can even check me if you want."

He was hesitant at first. It unnerved him how upfront she was. Ryan certainly didn't trust her, but he was intrigued by her. "I'll see what I can do."

"Excellent," Elizabeth smiled. She headed for the door. "I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To go get the cameras for your apartment," she replied. "I can't let Division know I'm protecting you. I have to act as though this operation is going perfectly, which means you're just going to have to deal with a little less personal space for awhile."

"How long is that exactly?" Ryan asked feeling completely uncomfortable with the whole ordeal.

"Until they need me to do something more important. I'll be back in a few."

She exited his apartment and headed straight for her own. When she walked into her living room to grab the hidden cameras she considered just ignoring the small package on the table. Unfortunately her curiosity got the better of her. She sat on the couch and stared at the box for two or three minutes, her right leg shaking with anxiety. She had a little trouble gaining the courage to untie the ribbon that held the box together. Eventually, she took the note that had been placed on top and read it to herself:

_Lizzie,_

_ Happy Belated Birthday. I swear I would have gotten you something on your actual birthday, but you have no idea how hard you are to shop for you. But then I remembered that – never mind, you'll see what it is when you open it._

_ -Sey_

_ P.S. Stay in my life. Okay?_

Elizabeth felt her stomach clench as she put the note down and picked up his present. She undid the white ribbon and then took off the top. Inside, was a ring. But not just any ring. She held it with her fingers feeling its smooth silver surface with a small blue band that took up about half of it. She turned the blue part outward revealing its second use. The beautiful ring doubled as a Bluetooth headset.

Elizabeth couldn't help but smile. She and Birkhoff used to have a set of private comms for the two of them, so they could speak privately both on and off missions. She had broken hers about a month back and neither of them ever really brought it up after it happened; mostly because the past several months had already been awkward for them.

She found herself staring at the note again. _Stay in my life. Okay?_ The words kept replaying in her mind. Elizabeth wanted to forgive him, she really did. But for some reason she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She had convinced herself that he hadn't done anything wrong, that it was all her fault. The fact of the matter however, was that they both let the situation go too far, too many times.

She slipped the ring on to her left hand before standing up and looking at the portrait above the couch. It was a landscape painting of Trafalgar Square in London, which also happened to be Elizabeth's favorite city. Behind the portrait was a vault where she kept several pieces of weaponry, her Intel package, a few microdot tracking devices, and the plastic bag full of small cameras for Ryan's apartment. Opening up the vault with her pass code, she grabbed the bag, closed the vault and portrait, and went back to Ryan's apartment.

She tapped on his door three times before he opened it. "Listen, Elizabeth-"

"Don't call me that," she said breezing by him.

"Let me guess, that's not your name?"

She opened up the bag and took out one camera. As she spoke she grabbed a chair from his kitchen and set it in front of his incredibly tall book shelf in his living room. "The only people who call me that are Percy and Amanda, and frankly, I hate both of them for it." She stood on the chair and reached out to hide the camera between a copy of _The Great Gatsby_ and a copy of _The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_(Both of which Elizabeth had read) on the top shelf. "Call me Crow. Everyone calls me Crow." After getting the camera into place she pulled out another from the bag and headed toward his bedroom dragging the chair with her. "And since we're on the subject," Ryan fallowed behind her as she put the chair right in front of his closet. "My last name's not Slater." She stood on the chair once more and situated the second camera on top of the woodwork above the closet. "It's Kaiser. Elizabeth Marie Kaiser."

"Why does that name sound familiar?" he asked.

"Let me give you a clue," she said now carrying the chair with her back to the kitchen. "Twelve Year Old Gymnast Brutally Murders Her Adoptive Mother." Sliding the chair back underneath his table she finally faced him. "At least that's what all the headlines said. Sound familiar?"

It did. The case of Elizabeth Kaiser had been talked about for weeks on National News. It may have been ten years ago, but it was the kind of case they were now teaching children about in forensics and law classes in high school's and colleges throughout the country. "I thought Division only chose people that wouldn't cause a paper trail?"

"And I bet you also thought they wouldn't prey on a young kid, didn't you?"

"Wait," he said trying to put all the pieces together. "Are you telling me you were twelve years old when Division took you?"

"Thirteen actually," she replied. "They committed my suicide on my birthday. Lucky me right? Getting a second chance." The words tasted bitter in her mouth. She walked over to the kitchen counter and positioned the last camera so that it peaked out a little from behind his microwave. "You're all set. As soon as I go back to my apartment and turn these buggers on, Division will be able to see your every move. And just so you're aware I slipped microdot into the coffee I bought you earlier. You don't have to worry about that though. Its tracking signal can only be seen from my laptop or cell phone. Division will have no idea where you are as long as I don't want them too. I should also warn you that Percy sent me up here to seduce information out of you, so we may eventually have to get frisky in front of those cameras." Ryan shoulders tensed. "Don't worry we don't have to have sex or anything. We've just got to make it look like you're interested in me. But not now, we have to make it seem gradual and genuine. And when you need to contact me about my meeting with Nikita, text me to come to the coffee shop we met in this afternoon. To Division it'll just look like we're hanging out, or on a date or something and I'm just trying to manipulate you into giving me information."

Ryan just stared at her in both complete amazement and utter befuddlement. "What?" Elizabeth said leaning her hand against the kitchen table. "Am I not what you expected?"

"I just didn't think a Division agent would be so open about their previous life, or about anything really."

"Division teaches you not to trust anyone," she shrugged. "But I think that's Bull."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot," she said. "But not literally."

He smiled at her joke before asking, "That story you told me about your biological parents, was that true?"

"Every word," she sighed. "And that part about me not being able to watch movies or TV as a kid; that was true too. Don't worry though, I've been caught up."

"Wow," he said, his voice sounding breathless.

"Wow? That's all you have to say?" Elizabeth folded her arms over her chest. "I just gave you my life story and you say 'wow'?"

"Anyone ever tell you you're kinda rude?" he said, folding his arms over his chest. In that respect he was similar to Birkhoff. They both seemed to like that closed off stance.

"Sorry," she apologized dryly. "They don't let me out much. Percy considers me a flight risk, so instead of being able to live on the outside world like every other agent, I'm usually stuck in a stupid recruit bed in the bowels of Division. It's not to say that I never get to see the light of day, but it's usually far and in between."

"Eliza-Crow," he corrected himself. "If I get you this meeting with Nikita, I want an interview with you."

Elizabeth considered the idea. "I'll decide that after I talk to Nikita." She grabbed her plastic bag that she left on the kitchen table. "I'm gonna get out of here." He walked her to the front door and she grabbed her gun before she left. "Oh and just a reminder, we're going to be spending the next few days together. And when I say _we_ I mean you and my cover. I'll stop by when you get back from work. We've got to put on a show for Division so they don't realize what we're doing. And if you ever need to talk about Division or Nikita, remember to text me to meet you at the coffee shop. I'll do the same."

He nodded respectively and she walked back to her apartment. The minute she got into her bedroom she grabbed her laptop off the dresser and flopped herself onto the bed. Opening the laptop she hit a few keys and the next thing she knew Division was connected to Ryan's apartment. She then opened up her email and wrote her day's report to Percy:

_Percy,_

_ First day successful. Cameras are in place. I have access to his tracker. Will update as soon as I gain any information. So far nothing. As expected, it was a pretty boring day._

After sending the message, Elizabeth shut the laptop and set it down on her newly placed night stand. Her head fell onto her pillow as she took in a deep breath. For what was supposed to be a rather dull assignment, she sure had a rather exciting, and fairly stressful day. After reviewing the past twenty-four hours in her head, she realized how much had been on her mind recently. Nikita, Alex, Sey. And now Ryan.

_Stay in my life. Okay?_ Those words kept creeping up on her. Mostly because she could hear Birkhoff's voice saying it. But as her eyes closed into a miserable sleep she heard the saying for the final time in her own voice. She wasn't sure who she speaking out to, but then again she didn't really care due to the migraine that was slowly making its way across her head.


	6. Chapter 5: The Computer Geek

**Putting The Gun Down**

**Chapter 5: The Computer Geek**

_I met Seymour Birkhoff when I was seventeen years old. I was only two months away from becoming an official agent of Division. At that time in my life, I had pretty much hated the world. Then again what angsty teenager doesn't? Division kept me on lock down and there was nothing to do in that hell hole, but train. I liked to put all of my anger and frustration out on the training dummies. I was a much quieter person then too. Michael was usually the only person who could get me to speak._

_I had been pounding my fists into a dummy in the training area when Michael had disrupted me. He tapped me ever so slightly on my shoulder. Not knowing who it was, I whipped my head around and threw a punch into the air. His hand caught my fist before it reached his face. "Crow," he greeted with a nod._

_"Michael," I said with my face completely expressionless._

_When he let go of my fist I took notice of the young guy standing next to him. He was considerably shorter than Michael, but still taller than me. His light brown hair was cut short, but still managed to be messy. He wore a pair of thin rimmed glasses. __It was his clothes however, that stood out the most to me. I hadn't seen a guy wearing anything but a suit and tie for so many years; I had forgotten what jeans even looked like. They matched his black T-shirt with the words "May the Force Be With You" written out on it in bold, yellow letters. Over top his shirt he wore a navy blue hoodie with a zipper down the front that was one size too big for him and on his feet he wore a pair of dirty, tan converses._

_Needless to say the guy was a bit of a culture shock. I think that's what made him so attractive to me in the first place._

_"Crow, I want you to meet Seymour Birkhoff. He's going to be the new head of our tech department."_

_"Good for him," I mumbled turning back to the dummy._

_"He needs training," Michael said._

_"Than I guess he better get started huh?" I replied, my fist meeting the dummy's chest._

_"I suggested to Percy that you do it." Now he had my attention. _

_Before my fist could land into the dummy for a second time I turned around again and said, "And you did that why exactly?"_

_"Amanda seems to think that some social interaction might help your-" he paused for a moment, not wanting to offend me. He did anyway, "-Anger issues, and frankly so do I."_

_"I'm not even out of recruitment yet and you think I'm capable of training some computer geek?"_

_"Computer hacker," Seymour corrected me with pride in his voice. My eyes gazed over at him for a second before they returned to Michael. Seymour was leaning against the concrete wall with his arms folded. He had terrible posture, but the smug smirk on his face distracted me from it._

_"I think you're perfectly capable," Michael responded honestly. "You know that you would have been promoted by now, if it hadn't been for you're age."_

_"You know, I could easily get some social interaction if you would let me outside every once and awhile."_

_Michael avoided the statement. "I'll let you two get more acquainted." He walked away with his hands in his pockets, leaving me and the computer geek alone._

_I rolled my eyes and turned back to the dummy. I didn't want to look at Seymour while spoke. "We start tomorrow, five am sharp in my private gym. Don't be late."_

* * *

Elizabeth woke up screaming and covered in sweat. Nightmares were something that had become frequent in Elizabeth's life. Amanda forced her to talk about them often. The kind that she had that night, were her least favorite type. The type where the minute she opens her eyes she forgets what it was she had been screaming about in the first place. Not knowing what was so scary, made it all the more terrifying.

She ran her fingers though her hair and out of her face. She glanced over at the clock. It was almost three in the morning. At the sudden realization that she had fallen asleep at only six pm without anything to eat, she found herself incredibly hungry. Moving slowly out of bed, she walked to her kitchen and checked the fridge.

Empty. Division can give her a whole wardrobe full of clothes and yet they can't stock a fridge.

Going back into her room she grabbed her laptop and went online to see if there were any twenty-four hour delivery services nearby. There was a pizza place not too far away that was listed. Amanda wouldn't be happy. She had put Elizabeth on a special diet, and pizza was certainly not on the list of approved foods. Closing the laptop, she went back to the kitchen and ordered herself an individual Hawaiian pizza, with a small bit of satisfaction that she would be disobeying Amanda's orders.

After hanging up she went to the living room and sat with her feet up on the couch. She flipped through some TV stations trying to find something at least remotely interesting to watch. No luck.

The sudden vibration she felt on her right ring finger startled her. The neon blue band on the ring that Birkhoff had given her had turned out to be a small high resolution display. The words, _Call From: Sey_, scrolled past. Elizabeth wasn't sure if she could handle picking it up, but she did anyway. She unfolded the headset and placed it on her ear.

"Hello?"

"Lizzie," his voice sounded surprised. "Sorry, I was just testing the signal. I didn't think I would wake you up."

"You didn't," she said hitting the power button on the remote to turn off the TV. "Bad Dream. What are you doing up so late?"

"One too many Red Bulls," he replied. "I figured if I can't sleep I might as well get some work done, and then when I decided that was a stupid idea, I remembered I hadn't tested your new comm yet. Nice to know it works. Truth be told I didn't even think you'd have it on you."

"Well, I did." she said. "I do." Once again awkwardness filled the air. And this time they weren't even in the same room. "So," She wasn't quite sure what to say, so she asked the first question that came to her mind. "How's everything at Division?"

"Wouldn't know," he replied. "I was put on leave."

"But you're the great Shadow Walker," she toyed with him. "I thought Division always needed you around?"

"Apparently not," he mumbled. She could hear the clicking of computer keys in her speaker. Even when he wasn't working he was behind a computer. "Thank the Lord."

"That must be nice," Elizabeth said doing her best to hide her jealousy. "Getting to go home and all."

"I guess it's better then sleeping on the couch in my office," he replied. "Since Percy promoted me, all I've been doing is working on those little black boxes of his. And not hearing Mikey obsess over Nikita is nice too."

Elizabeth smiled. It was true. Since Nikita had shown up sixth months ago, it was all Michael ever talked about. Well, that and his new favorite recruit Alex. That certainly wasn't a coincidence. "Thank you for the gift by the way."

"I just thought," he took a moment making sure he would say everything right. "I know that you're Miss Independent, No Man's Gonna Put Me Down, 'Snap In a Z Formation', Wonder Woman, but just because you don't need me in your life doesn't mean..." his voice trailed off.

Elizabeth knew Birkhoff was never very good with his feelings, but neither was she. Although, they had opposite problems. All he ever did was bottle up his feelings, and all she ever did was let them loose. She knew what he was going to say. "It doesn't mean I don't need you in mine." She took in a deep sigh before she responded to him, "Sey, I'm not going anywhere. At least not for long."

"You need some time to think," he said. "I get it."

But that was the problem. Birkhoff didn't get it. Elizabeth had told him countless times about how she felt. And never once did he ever tell her how he felt. In fact, she didn't even need him to say it, but she did need him to show it. Unfortunately for her he didn't know how to do that either.

"Sey..." The only thing Elizabeth could think of to say was, "You're my best friend."

"Yeah well, sometimes I think you're my only friend," he sighed. She hated that he felt that way. But part of her also knew it was true. Nikita left. And since then Michael hadn't exactly been the same. He started treating Birkhoff the same way Percy did. He was more like a pet to them then a person. When Nikita escaped, Elizabeth and Birkhoff clung to each other because of how alone they both felt. They had always been close but it wasn't until then, that Birkhoff started treating Elizabeth like she could be something more.

Elizabeth decided to change the subject. "I need to ask for a favor?"

"What?"

"I need you to send today's footage of my apartment to me."

"Lizzie," his voice sounded suspicious of her. "What did you do?"

"Nothing that would get me cancelled." _Lie._ "Can you do it?"

"You do know who you're talking to right?"

"Thank you," she said kindly. "And don't watch it before you send it over, I did something really embarrassing and I don't want anyone to see it." _Lie. _"Any high profile ops going up anytime soon?"

"Uhh," she heard the sound of his fingers against the keyboard. "Yeah, something called Operation Castle is coming up in a week. Although clearly it must not be that high profile if neither of us is there." Elizabeth rolled her eyes with a grin as he continued. "It looks like a group mission."

"A kill order?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Prince Eric of Georgia. Looks like our guys are going in as the president of Georgia's armed forces."

"It's a frame job," Elizabeth understood.

"Looks like it. Why do you care anyway? I thought you were stuck to Fletcher's side for the next few weeks?"

"No reason." _Lie. _"What agents were activated?"

"So many questions," he said. The sound of his keyboard was only getting louder. "Stephen, Mikah, Damon, Lindsey, Alex, Topher-"

_Alex._ "Okay that's fine," Elizabeth said. "I don't-" she was interrupted by a knock on her door. "That's probably the pizza guy. I have to go."

"All right," he sighed with disappointment laced in voice. "Bye Lizzie."

"Goodbye Sey." Elizabeth took the headset off quickly and slipped it back on her finger. After paying the pizza a guy she sat back down on the couch, grabbed a slice and then turned the television back on. She however, was not paying attention to what was on the screen. Her mind was running a thousand miles per hour trying to come up with a conceivable plan.

If Alex was on the team for Operation Castle, it only meant Nikita wouldn't be too far behind. And if Ryan couldn't make good on his deal, then Elizabeth would have to prepare for an alternate way to get in contact with her.

* * *

_I sat in a straddled position on the mats stretching out my thigh muscles. He was late. While my right arm reached for my left foot, I checked my watch. _

_5:03._

_"Whoa," his voice made her jump. "Nice place you got here." He wasn't wrong. Had I actually enjoyed being a gymnast for most of my life, I probably would have thought that place was heaven. With perfectly clean mats, two sets of uneven bars, one vault, and one balance beam (all state of the art) on one side of the room, and high tech martial arts equipment on the other, I was the envy of all Division recruits and agents. The room had been designed specifically for me back when I was thirteen. My former trainer, Wade didn't want any distractions from the other recruits._

_"You're late," I replied now moving my left hand to my right foot._

_"By three minutes," he replied casually walking over to me. _

_"Help me up," I said extending my arm out to him. He took my hand and with barely any effort I flipped him over onto his back. "Rule number one: Pay attention." He tried to sit up, but I was too fast for him. I stood up quickly and put my foot on his chest, pinning him to the mat. "Rule number two: If you're down, stay down. They won't kill you if they already think you're dead." I took my foot off of him and then squatted down so I could look him dead in the eye and say, "Rule number three: Don't. Be. Late."_

_The computer geek looked absolutely terrified. I watched his eyes gaze over the scar on my face. His expression was the same as everyone else's. I could see his curiosity, his sympathy, and his fear in just that one look. "Ma'am, yes Ma'am."_

_"Get up," I said fiercely while standing up myself. "And don't call me ma'am, I'm not you're mother. Fifty push up. Now."_

_"Fifty?!" his eyebrows raised in shock. "I can't even do ten."_

_"Make it a hundred then," I smirked a little. "I don't like the words 'I can't'."_

_After watching him struggle for twenty minutes, I sat on the ground waiting for him to finish. He was already sweating like a pig and his heavy breathing had me wondering if he had asthma. He took break from the pain to ask me a question. "What's you're name?"_

_"Crow," I answered quickly. "Don't stop. You're only at fifteen."_

_"I meant what's you're real name?"_

_"If I tell you, will you finish the exercise?" I asked. He nodded slowly, trying to find his energy. "Elizabeth Marie Kaiser. _

_I knew he recognized the name by the way his eyes widened for a second before he shook the eerie feeling off and replaced it with a smile. "I'm not a huge fan of the three syllable names, or one syllable's either, now that I think about it."_

_"How nice for you," I said blankly. "You still have eighty-five more push-ups to go."_

_ "Alright Lizzie, don't get all worked up. Besides I think I'll pass out before I even hit fifty."_

_I stomped over to him quickly. I watched his eyes widen in fear again. "Did I say you could call me that?"_

_"No," he said. "But I'm not the type of guy who follows orders anyway."_

_"Well I suggest you learn to be," I pulled him off of his feet. "Because if you don't, you'll die."_

_His fear of me had disappeared, and was replaced with an understanding and fear of Division itself. "So play ball, or be cancelled," he replied quietly with a nod._

_"That's right." He went back to his push ups. He was doing his best, but I knew that if I wanted to get out of his training before midnight, I would have to try something new. "You can stop. Let's see how many sit ups you can do, Sey." I drew his new nickname out with emphasis, just to see if I could get a reaction. _

_"Wait a minute," he said between two heavy breaths. "I can't call you Lizzie, but you can call me Sey?"_

_"That's right," I replied smugly. "I'm the trainer, and you're the recruit. Sit ups. Now."_


	7. Chapter 6: Truth

**Putting The Gun Down**

**Chapter 6: Truth  
**

After spending three hours at the grocery store, two hours at the gym, and one hour researching Prince Eric of Georgia, Elizabeth found herself planted in front of Ryan's apartment at exactly six pm. She pushed her false glasses up the arch of her nose and put on a fake smile after taking in a slow, deep sigh and tapping her knuckles softly against the door. It swung open only seconds later revealing Ryan in his dress shirt, untucked from his pants with the sleeves rolled up and the first two buttons undone. "Hello Ryan," her voice was giddy and her smile was bright. Ryan was frightened by it. "It's a beautiful day outside. I was wondering if you'd like to go for a walk."

"Uh," he looked around. Clearly, the man was a little paranoid. "Sure, let me just get my jacket."

They walked in silence out of the building. Elizabeth had always loved being outside. She didn't get much fresh air given that living in Division was like living in a dungeon. She loved sunshine and trees, but her favorite thing was flowers. There weren't too many in the city to look at, but when she did see them, she always took a minute to take in there beauty. Her favorite flower was a Gardenia.

When they found themselves at the nearby park Elizabeth sat down at a bench with Ryan beside her, both taking in their surroundings. Across from them was a small playground that looked to have been there for thirty or forty years. Children were playing with each other and their parents. To the right of the playground was a batch of picnic tables and to the left was a small group of trees with the leaves bright red and orange.

They both looked forward watching the people pass by and the families having fun on the playground. Without turning to look at him, Elizabeth asked, "You talk to Nikita yet?"

"You said that if I had any news to text you to meet at the-"

"I know what I said," Elizabeth responded blatantly. "I'm sorry; I'm just feeling a little impatient. And don't worry there's no one watching us. That's my job remember?"

"It's been less then a day," he tried to defend himself. "Do you realize how difficult it is to get in contact with her?"

"Really?" she said turning to look at him. Her eyes locked with his and her stomach tightened."Because, I happen to know exactly where she's going to be this Friday night. I need you to get me a meeting with her before then, otherwise I'll do this on my own."

Ryan looked her in the eye, with his frustration hitting a breaking point. "I don't understand you. You have an obsession with talking to Nikita, and yet from where I stand, you seem pretty damn loyal to the people that she's trying to bring down."

"The world isn't black and white Ryan," Elizabeth turned her head back to the people in the park. There was a small girl playing on the monkey bars. She was maybe six or seven. Her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. It moved up and down as the girl jumped into as if she thought she could fly. Elizabeth smiled at the young girl laughing and having fun. The girl ran over to her mother and she embraced her tightly. Elizabeth felt a small pang in her heart as she looked down at her feet. "Nikita was the first person who ever believed me."

"About what?"

There was a long pause. Elizabeth hadn't talked about it in so long.

"Everyone thinks I killed her." Ryan didn't need Elizabeth to tell him who "her" was. He knew by the way she looked at the mother and daughter playing just twenty feet away from them. "When I first got to Division, I tried to tell anyone who would listen that I was innocent, that I didn't belong there. No one cared. They all thought I was crazy or in denial. The more I whined about it, the more sessions I was forced to sit through with Amanda. She kept trying to get me to admit to it, but I couldn't. Eventually I just sort of learned to keep my mouth shut."

"Unbelievable," Ryan shook his head with disbelief and shock. "They turned an innocent thirteen year old girl into a trained killer."

"I had just turned eighteen when they sent me on my first kill job," she continued. "I remember hyperventilating when I found out I would be graduating soon. I almost passed out. Nikita had only been in Division for a few months. I barely knew her, but for some reason she was the only person that was able to calm me down. The day before I went out for the mission, I let it slip to her that I had never murdered anyone before. That someone else killed my mother. She believed me when no one else did."

"So," Ryan was still doing his best to piece everything together. "You're just trying to catch up with an old friend?" He knew that wasn't the right answer, but it was his best guess and he was hoping he could coax a real answer out of her.

"The first rule you learn in Division is don't try to contact anyone from your old life, and don't try to uncover anything from your past. While I may think Nikita is a dead woman for leaving Division, she may be the only person who can help clear my name."

Ryan slouched back into the bench."I'll do my best to get in contact with her tomorrow," he said.

"Thank you," she replied looking up at him again. "You know it's kinda nice having someone to talk to outside of Division. I'm glad you trust me. You do trust me, don't you?"

He raised an eyebrow and smirked, leaning in closer to her. "Don't give me a reason not to." Elizabeth felt her face heat up. She was absolutely mesmerized by his eyes and the way he stared at her. Her stomach felt like it was going to explode, and her heart was beating a million times per second.

She wasn't sure if she liked having those feelings for Ryan, not when she had only had that feeling for one other person, and they ended up breaking her heart.

"I won't," she breathed out. She leaned in and did what she thought was the most despicable thing she could possibly do.

She kissed him.

And just as fast as she leaned in, she let go. The kiss didn't last for more then a second. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" her heart only beat faster. "I have this problem where I let my emotions take over and I-"

"Elizabeth," he said putting a hand on her shoulder and rubbing it with his thumb. "It's fine." She shook her head frantically out of embarrassment. "Really, it's fine. You're in a vulnerable state right now. I get it."

And that was the difference between Ryan and Birkhoff. Ryan really did "get it".

As Elizabeth felt her heart rate go down she nudged Ryan in the stomach with a gentle smile on her face and said, "I told you to call me Crow."

"Why is that you're nickname anyway?"

"That's a question you can save for my interview Mr. Fletcher."

"I thought you said you would consider the interview _after_ you talked to Nikita?"

"I did," Elizabeth replied. "But I'm aloud to change my mind. As long as you don't treat me like a Rubik's Cube, like Amanda does."

"Never," he said. Elizabeth couldn't help but find his smile endearing.

"Look," she said getting back to more important matters and trying to avoid the enormous butterfly moving around in her stomach. "If Nikita has any doubts, tell her I know about Alex."

And suddenly he had a reason not to trust her. Ryan's eyes widened. He looked around the area; his paranoia was getting to him again. Leaning in for the second time, he whispered, "You know about Alex?!"

"It's a long story, but it's one that'll get her attention."

"Does Division-?"

"No," Elizabeth replied quickly. "I haven't told them."

"Why not?"

"I don't know."

Ryan could see by the way she looked away from him that that wasn't true. "Yes you do. You have your doubts about Division. I can tell. You want to join Nikita's side."

"No," her voice was abrupt. Ryan noticed a complete change in attitude. "Nikita is a fool. She thinks she can take that place down? I've been there longer than anyone, and I've watched others try to destroy it too. Do you know what happens to them? They all end up in a meat grinder somewhere."

"So then why risk it?" he asked her. "Why disobey orders?" She didn't have an answer. "I know it has to be more then just wanting to clear your name." Ryan watched as Elizabeth stared down at her hands, playing with her fingers. "You don't need to join Nikita's side. You're already on it."

Elizabeth stood. She was infuriated by the accusation. Pulling her jacket tighter around her, she said, "Just get me that meeting. I'll see you tomorrow. No need to text me to meet you at the coffee shop. I'll already be there." Elizabeth left Ryan sitting on the bench alone. She walked briskly back to her apartment and for the second day in a row she found herself flopping onto her bed in frustration and grabbing her laptop to send her report to Percy.

_Percy,_

_ Still no news from Fletcher about Nikita. He's starting to warm up to me though._

* * *

The following day was just as eventful as the one previous. Elizabeth spent a few hours at the gym, a few hours shopping for the exhibition that she would be attending, and once again she found herself walking into the coffee shop to meet Ryan at exactly six o'clock. He was sitting in the back corner. His leg was shaking and his eyes were shifting around with anxiety. When he spotted her, he stood up straight.

She took her seat across from him and crossed one leg over the other underneath the table. "Good news I hope?"

"I got a hold of Nikita," he replied. "I called her this morning."

"And…"

"She didn't say anything," Ryan watched as she pushed her short brown hair out of her face in annoyance. "I told her about Alex, I told her about why you said you wanted to get in contact with her; I even told her that you knew where she was going to be on Friday night. She just hung up on me."

Elizabeth leaned back in her chair with a slight look of defeat in her eyes. "Then I need you to get me two invitations to the opening of the Georgian Crowned Jewel Exhibit on Friday night. And don't tell me you can't do it. You may be a low level analyst, but I know you've got friends in higher places."

"I can't just-"he watched her eyebrows raise and her lips fall into a smirk. "Fine. Who's the second one for?"

"You."

"What?"

"I may be the only one tracking _you_," she explained. "But I have a whole squadron of nerds _and_ Percy tracking _me_. If I go as your date, I'll have an excuse to be there."

"You've really thought this through," he said impressed.

"Yes, I have," she uncrossed her legs and leaned in towards the table. "I've already picked out my dress and everything. All we need is a snazzy suit for you and we'll be ready to go."

* * *

Ryan and Elizabeth chose to walk home together, not because they only lived two doors downs from one another, but because as twisted and confusing as their relationship (or whatever one might call it) was, they still enjoyed each other's company. They found each other interesting. Elizabeth liked how seemingly normal Ryan was, and it completely perplexed her as to why he would have even decided to get involved with Nikita in the first place. Ryan found her just as perplexing as she did him. He had promised not to "solve her like a Rubik's Cube", as she so put it, but that was difficult for him. Despite how honest and open she seemed, he could tell there was just so much more to be learned. And he wanted to know it all.

Sitting on the welcome mat in front of Elizabeth's door was a brown package labeled "FRAGILE". Elizabeth looked up at Ryan curiously. He simply grinned back at her. He may not have known what was in the box, but he did know who it was from. "So, I'll see you on Friday?"

"What?" she said distracted by the mysterious piece of mail. "Oh, yeah. I'll see you Friday. Just text me what time you want to meet."

"Sure," he said. "Till then,_ Elizabeth." _She chuckled slightly as she watched him walk away. Her cheeks had lit up like a Christmas tree once again.


	8. Chapter 7: Betrayel

**Putting The Gun Down**

**Chapter 7: Betrayel**

After Ryan was out of view, her mind went back to the box sitting in front of her door. She picked it up and entered her apartment, shutting the door tightly behind her. She grabbed a knife out of one of her kitchen drawers before heading to her bedroom. Once she got there, she sat on her bed cross legged with the package in front of her. She stabbed the knife though the tape that was sealing it shut. Opening each flap carefully, the first thing she saw was a note.

_Crow,_

_ A week before I escaped, I went sneaking through some old evidence lockers. I found something that I thought might interest you, but I wasn't sure how you would react if I actually let you get your hands on it. Ryan told me what you said about your mom. This might help clear things up for you. I'm sorry. See you on Friday._

Elizabeth didn't need a signature to know the package was from Nikita. Moving through the bubble wrap, Elizabeth finally managed to place her hands on a standard, plastic Division evidence bag. Pulling the bag out of the scraps made Elizabeth's heart stop.

The knife still had small stains of blood on the surface of its blade. At first, she couldn't believe that this was the kitchen knife that killed her mother, but when she flipped it over, she saw the small carvings of butterfly wings etched into the wooden handle.

Elizabeth's hands began to tremble so much, that she dropped the bag. A few tears fell down her cheeks as she continued to stare at the object used to kill a person she loved more than anyone else in the world. She was an innocent. Did she sometimes put too much pressure on her daughter? Yes, but she never would have harmed anyone and she didn't deserve to die.

Elizabeth took off her false glasses and set them on her night stand. She drew a finger across her eye, accidentaly hitting the bump her scar had left, to help stop the tears from falling. When she regained focus she noticed the two small fingerprint cards inside the bag as well. One was labeled to Miss Elizabeth Marie Kaiser. The other was left Unknown.

Why would Division have evidence from her case in the first place? None of it made any sense. Unless, Division sanctioned the kill. But if they were, what was the point of framing Elizabeth in the first place? A thirteen year old girl certainly didn't fit their normal profile.

Elizabeth's first instinct was to call Birkhoff immediately and asked him to look through Shadownet. On any normal circumstance Elizabeth wouldn't have done so, but this time was different. She dialed his number quickly and placed her Bluetooth over her ear.

"Hello?" his voice sounded casual. She could hear the sound of a video game going on behind him.

"I need to ask you for another favor." As she spoke she took a quick close up picture of the unknown fingerprint.

"It's nice to hear from you too Lizzie," Birkhoff replied sarcastically.

"I'm sending you a picture of a fingerprint," she told him. "I need you to use Shadownet to identify it"

"Lizzie, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," her voice coughed out quickly.

"Because you've been acting really weird. And I know that part of it's my fault, but this whole 'assigning me random tasks while I'm supposed to be on vacation' thing is whole knew level crazy for you."

"Will you just do it," she said forcefully. Realizing how demanding she was she added a small, "Please."

"Alright, alright," he agreed. "Just give me a sec." Elizabeth sat, her leg shaking with anxiety while Birkhoff scanned the print. "Shadownet may have to scan through several databases to find a match. It could take-" Elizabeth jumped with anticipation when Birkhoff cut himself off. "Never mind. Turns out your print was in the first database I checked."

"And which one was that?"

"Division's," he replied. Elizabeth's heart sank. They had been behind her mother's death the entire time. But why? Her mother wasn't a threat. She didn't work for the government. She couldn't have killed a fly even if she wanted to. Elizabeth's thought were interrupted by Birkhoff's voice. "The print belongs to Wade. Man, I really hated that guy. He always…." Elizabeth felt a jolt of anger run through her spine. She was too upset to pay attention to the rant Birkhoff was having behind his computer screen.

Wade had always been a nut job. He must have given Elizabeth more black eyes then she had ever gotten on the field. He stopped being her trainer when she was fifteen after he killed another recruit for not succeeding in a kill mission. Wade's perfect record was broken.

In that moment all Elizabeth wanted to do was track Wade down and torture him to death the same way her mother had been. "Lizzie?" Birkhoff finally managed to get her attention back. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing," Elizabeth replied softly. She could feel the warm tears falling down her face again. "I have to go." She hung up on him before he could respond.

Her eyes started to swell. She couldn't control the amount of pain she was feeling. She tried to avoid it by slowly grabbing her laptop and with shaky hands she wrote her report.

_Percy,_

_ Fletcher invited me to some kind of jewel exhibit opening on Friday. Hopefully I'll be able to uncover something while I'm there._

She shut the laptop hard. Elizabeth had always hated Percy, but she had never wanted to kill him. Now, she couldn't wait to.

* * *

_The elevator doors slid open. The grunts and punches coming from the recruits immediately ceased as I entered the room. My clothes were torn and my long hair hung in front of my face. They were all staring at me. I was used to that. What I wasn't used to was the way they were staring at me. Normally there eyes were filled with fear. Instead, they were filled with sympathy. Even the guards looked worried for me. They all knew what I knew. There was a good chance I was going to be cancelled. _

_I walked through the training area doing my best to ignore them all. When I entered operations, everyone was giving me the same look. Sey wasn't sitting at his computer. For the first time in a long time, I felt completely alone._

_"What are you looking at?" I said harshly. They all looked away shamefully. My anger only rose._

_"Everyone back to work," I heard Michael's voice behind me. "We have to Nikita and Kelly."_

_"There's no point in looking for Nikita," I said flatly turning around to look him with my cold, dead eyes. "She's dead."_

_"Crow, Amanda is waiting in her office to debrief you," Michael said. I could tell he would have liked to say more, but he was too frustrated and angry to do anything but focus on his work. That's what Michael did when he was upset. He worked until his fingers bled. _

_I moved like a ghost down the hallway to Amanda's office. She wasn't the only one in the room. Sey was standing behind a computer, setting up a familiar system. A lie detector. I tried to close off my feelings. Just like Amanda had taught me when coming into a frighting situation. My voice still quivered slightly,"I thought I was just being debriefed. No one said anything about an interrogation."_

_"Elizabeth," Amanda said coolly. "Please have a seat. I sat in the chair that had been placed in the center of the room. "Birkhoff," Amanda looked over at him telling him to continue with the procedure._

_He nodded moving over to me. He slowly and gently attached each wire to my face in the proper position. He, like everyone else had a look of sympathy written all over his face; accept his was somehow much more genuine. I watched as he moved back behind the laptop he had set up. He gave Amanda a thumbs up letting her know he was ready._

_"Please state your name."_

_"Elizabeth Marie Kaiser."_

_"And what operation were you active on?" Amanda asked. Normally Amanda would sit across from her prey, but she was towering over me._

_"Operation Broken Eagle," I replied._

_"Could you please tell me what happened that made this Operation unsuccessful?"_

_My nails squeezed into the arm of the chair. "I don't know."_

_Amanda looked back at Sey. He stated simply and with regret, "Lie."_

_It was too painfull to talk about. Unfortunately, I didn't have a choice. "There were two boarder officer's that Nikita hadn't accounted for. She told Kelly and I that she found a shortcut._

_"I see," Amanda was pacing in front of me. "And what exactly was this shortcut._

_"A bridge," I replied. "I crouched down on one side; Kelly was on the other while Nikita ran over it. A remote control gun started going off. Kelly called Division and someone in Ops told us to abort. Kelly and I were forced to split up, but before we did, she told me we had to complete the mission. I told her that was a stupid idea and that I'd meet her back at the rondevu point. She never showed."_

_"All true," Sey told Amanda._

_"And what happened to Nikita?"_

_My face tightened, trying its best not to cry.. "She was shot. She fell off the bridge. She's probably out there either dead or dying."_

_I had never seen Amanda have feelings before, but in that moment I could see the smallest bit of sadness in her eyes. She shook it off quickly and said, "I just have one more question. Were you at all involved with Nikita's escape?"_

_"I just said-"_

_"You said she was probably dead. The interesting thing however is that Nikita's tracker was continuing to move at least an hour after you reported her being shot down."_

_My eyes widened. "She's alive?" I wasn't sure if I felt betrayed or jealous._

_"We assume she took her tracker out and used the entire operation to make her escape," Amanda said. "I'm going to ask you again. Did you have anything to do with Nikita's escape?"_

_"No."_

_Amanda turned back to look at Sey once more. His voice was quiet._

_"She's telling the truth."_

_"You may go," Amanda said to me._

_I ripped the wires off of my face and exited the room as quickly as possible only to be stopped halfway down the hallway by Sey who had grabbed onto my wrist. I turned around to look it him and I immediately fell apart. Tears that had been locked up for the past twenty-four hours swam down my face. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight. "It's going to be okay," he whispered._

_I always felt kind of ironic when I was with Sey. There I was, a girl who had no problem taking care of herself and yet the only time I ever felt truly safe was when I was with him._

_He held me for as long as he could until we heard the footsteps of a guard coming around the corner. By the time we had let go the crying had stopped, however my face was still wet. Sey wiped one of the drying tears out from underneath my eye. "Let's have some fun tonight."_

_"Thanks," I said. "But I'm not really in the mood to play video games in your office."_

_"No, I mean let's get outta here," he replied. "There's a carnival not too far away. Let's go."_

_I shook my head no. "The bosses aren't very happy when I leave Division."_

_"I'll hack your tracker to make it look like your still in your room," Sey said as if it were no big deal. "How many times do I have to tell you that I own this place."_

_"The same amount of times you say 'If I break the rules Percy'll kill me,'" I replied. "Only this time I'm the one that's gonna die."_

_"They aren't going to cancel you Lizzie," Birkoff made it sound as if it were a ridiculous notion. "You best the lie detector test and your too valuable of an asset for them to lose. Now, let's go to the carnival and at least try to forget all the crap that's fallen on us."_

_"I don't know-"_

_"Come on, you need it, I need it. What do you say?"_

_"Fine," I said with complete hesitation._

* * *

Elizabeth patiently waited outside on the museum steps for Ryan to arrive. She was wearing an elegant strapless dress with a turquoise bodice covered in black lace and a black skirt that started at the waist and flowed out past her ankles. She wore a simple pair of black heels to match. The ensemble was perfect to cover a pair of leggings and a tube top. Elizabeth also carried with her a purse just big enough to hold small jean shorts, a jacket, a cell phone, and a mask.

Ryan appeared in a smooth black tux with his hair slicked back slightly. Elizabeth couldn't help but notice just how handsome he looked. "You're early," he said.

Elizabeth smiled up at him taking his tie in her hands so she could adjust it. "Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable."

"That's a quote," Ryan noted.

"Eric Jerome Dickey in his novel _Sleeping with Strangers_," she replied proudly while fixing his collar. "Reading is how I kill time down in Hell."

"You never did tell me what was in that box you found."

She swallowed deeply and stepped away from him. "Nothing important," she lied.

"What happened to the open and honest Elizabeth I met last week?" She avoided his gaze and he understood. He wouldn't be getting any information out of her that night. However it certainly didn't mean he wouldn't try the next day. "How do you know Division's not here already?"

"After I sent Satan the report that I would be going to the opening with you tonight, he sent me the full tactical plans of Operation Castle. And even if Percy didn't send me them, it would have been pretty easy to figure out my own."

"It's a group mission, meaning there going in with a surgical strike," I explained. "And given that I knew Division would be disguising themselves as armed forces I could only assume that they're trying to frame someone. They're gonna want to get in, kill the prince, and get out. It'll give them just enough time to make a scene and exfil safely. The whole operation will take less then fifteen minutes."

"You figured all that out on your own?"

"Division is incredibly predictable," she replied. "Plus I had a little help from a nerd on vacation."

"Birkhoff," he understood.

"That's the one," she said. It felt odd and uncomfortable talking about Birkhoff with Ryan.

Not to pry into your personal life," Ryan started. "But are you two together?"

"Division doesn't allow relationships," I said blankly.

"That's not what I asked," Ryan's eyes twinkled as he spoke.

"No," I replied. "And we never were."

"So when you told me that sometime you let your emotions get the better of you..."

"He was the one I was referring to, yeah," I looked down at the ground feeling slightly ashamed.

Ryan could tell Elizabeth was feeling awkward, so he decided to move on. After letting out a small cough he said, "Shall we?" Ryan held out his right arm and Elizabeth wrapped her left around it.

"We shall," she sighed. It had been awhile since Elizabeth had been on a big mission, but she found herself more prepared then she had ever been.

After entering the museum and going through security, one of the guards told Elizabeth she needed to put her bag into the coat check. "Absolutely," she smiled charmingly at the guard. "I'm just going to go to the little girl's room first." She turned to Ryan and said. "I'll be right back." Before leaving him she gave him a small wink.

After entering the bathroom she entered one of the stalls. Making sure she was alone, she quickly slid off her dress and shoes. Opening her purse, she grabbed the pair of jean shorts and put them over her leggings. She then grabbed her hooded jacket and put it on over her tube top. She unzipped one of the pockets and found a pair of black fingerless gloves. Elizabeth then took out the ski mask that covered everything between her neck and the top of her nose. She put the hood over her head to shadow her eyes.

Above the stall was the opening to an air vent. Using a screw driver that she had kept in the other pocket of her jacket, Elizabeth opened the vent and threw all of her things inside. After doing so, Elizabeth climbed on top of the toilet in her bare feet and then entered the air vent. Tightly squeezing herself inside, she put on her headset and called Ryan. "I'm in the vents. Any sign of Nikita yet?"

"No," Ryan replied. "I thought you said she would be with the princess?"

"No, I only assumed she'd be," I corrected him. "It's easier to get to her then the prince. Is the princess in the main hall?"

"I have eyes on her right now," Ryan responded. "Nikita is nowhere to be seen."

"And the Prince?"

"He won't come out until it's time for his speech. Your best bet is probably just to look for Nikita through the vents."

"You do know how big this building is right?"

"Start from the bottom up?" he suggested as if there were no other alternatives.

"To the boiler room it is."


End file.
